Meet the Albishorn Type 10 Officer

The Albishorn Type 10 Officer is a watch that starts with a “what if” and ends with a very real, very serious piece of modern horology on the wrist. It imagines the missing link that never existed: a 1948 military chronograph that could have been the French Army’s first official pilot’s watch, a fictional ancestor to the legendary Type 20 – then actually builds it as if that history were true.​

The story: a chronograph that never was

Instead of endlessly reinterpreting the Type 20 like everyone else, Albishorn rewinds the tape and asks: what would a “Type 10” have looked like if it had been commissioned in the late 1940s? The answer is a monopusher military chronograph that feels period-correct in spirit, but is executed with today’s precision and quality control.​

• The watch is explicitly framed as the “imaginary ancestor” of the French Army Type 20, picking up the look and purpose of mid‑century pilot chronographs without copying any specific vintage reference.​
• Albishorn roots this fantasy in reality with a COSC‑certified, Swiss‑made, proprietary chronograph movement and a strictly limited run of just 99 pieces, so the story is playful but the watchmaking is serious.​

Design: 1940s cockpit on the wrist

Visually, the Type 10 leans hard into the idea of a cockpit instrument translated into a wristwatch. The dial and case are full of small decisions that both enthusiasts and newcomers can immediately appreciate once pointed out.

• The cream textured dial is all about legibility: bold black numerals filled with Super‑LumiNova, plus fully luminous hands, make it read like a proper pilot’s tool in any light.​
• Two sub-dials sit down low at 4:30 and 7:30 instead of the usual horizontal 3–9 layout, clearing the top half of the dial and giving it a distinctive “dashboard” feel that stands out in a crowded chronograph market.​
• At 12 o’clock, a patented chronograph function indicator displays reset, running, and stopped states in three colors (black, red, white), and is deliberately hidden by the seconds hand when the chronograph is at zero, a neat detail that rewards close inspection.​

Case and bezel: tool watch with flair

On paper, the case is sensible; on the wrist, it is quietly flamboyant. Albishorn uses familiar ingredients, then seasons them with a few bold choices that make the watch instantly recognizable.​

• The 39 mm stainless steel case is only 12 mm thick including the domed sapphire, with brushed and polished surfaces and fully chamfered edges that give it a surprisingly refined, almost dressy profile for a military chronograph.​
• A black DLC‑coated, conical rotating bezel in 60‑unit scale brings both function and attitude, with engraved markings alternately filled with lacquer and lume to stay readable in low light and to echo old flight timing bezels.​
• The crown, set unusually at about 10:30, is cast in bronze and intentionally left to age, developing a patina that visually marks time in parallel with the movement inside.​
• Opposite it, around 9:30, a large red anodized aluminum monopusher sits perfectly placed for thumb activation, nodding to early single‑button chronographs while also making the watch look unmistakably modern from the side.​

Movement: slim, proprietary, and hidden

Albishorn could have dropped a common off‑the‑shelf caliber into a nice case and called it a day, but instead chose a more demanding route. The heart of the Type 10 is a dedicated in‑house‑style chronograph movement built to support this unusual dial layout and complication suite.​

• The ALB02 M is a manual‑winding, COSC‑certified chronograph caliber produced in La Chaux‑de‑Fonds, with 65 hours of power reserve and a frequency of 4 Hz.​
• At only 5.70 mm in height, it allows the entire watch to remain notably thin for a mechanical chronograph, echoing the proportions of mid‑century pilot watches rather than the bulky sports chronographs more common today.​
• The movement is designed specifically around that tri‑state indicator at 12 and the 4:30 / 7:30 sub‑dials, making the layout feel intentional instead of gimmicky.​
• Everything is tucked behind a solid caseback, a choice that reinforces the “military instrument” narrative: this is meant to be used, not just stared at under sapphire.​

Wearing experience: for nerds and newcomers alike

On the wrist, the Type 10 Officer tries to satisfy two very different audiences: the collector who knows what “monopusher” and “COSC” mean, and the person who just wants a cool, characterful watch that tells a story. It does this not with one big trick, but with a collection of thoughtful choices.​

• The 39 mm diameter, 47.7 mm lug‑to‑lug, and 20 mm lug width hit a sweet spot that works on many wrists, and the watch ships with both beige and black calf leather straps so the owner can swing between vintage‑military and stealthier looks right out of the box.​
• Water resistance to 100 meters makes it less precious than its vintage inspiration; you can treat it like a real daily wearer rather than a museum piece.​
• For the seasoned enthusiast, the combination of limited production (99 pieces), proprietary movement, monopusher architecture, and a genuinely original dial layout checks a lot of “serious watch” boxes without lapsing into homage.​
• For the lay person, it is simply a handsome, slightly quirky pilot’s chronograph with a great backstory: a watch from an alternate history of aviation, built with modern reliability.​

In a market saturated with safe reissues and minor variations, the Albishorn Type 10 Officer feels refreshingly specific: a fully realized answer to a very nerdy question – what if the Type 20 had an older brother? – that still manages to be approachable, wearable, and fun.​

Check out more by visiting Albishorn here.